Footnotes

Provenance:
Property from the collection of Georges El-Zeenny, Beirut
Thence by descent to the present owner, London

Notes:
The present work is a unique, dedicated artists proof, the work also exists in a further edition of 10.

Bonhams is very pleased to be offering this present lot by one of the most renowned Palestinian artists of the 20th century. Mustafa Al-Hallaj was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1938. After the 1948 Nakba, Hallaj and his family had to leave their homeland and relocate to Damascus. He went on to studying sculpture at the College of Fine Arts in Cairo and attended the Luxor Atelier for postgraduate studies. His repertoire includes paintings, graphics, murals, illustrations, cover designs and etchings. Al-Hallaj specialized in graphic arts and sculpture and was named by critics "an Icon of Contemporary Arab Graphic Arts". At the age of 35 Hallaj decided to move to Beirut where he stood at the epicentre of the revolutionary artistic and intellectual flowering in Beirut of the 1970s. He contributed to define the art of resistance "Fan Al-Muqawama" in both Lebanon and Syria.

Al Hallaj lost the majority of works in his studio when leaving Beirut under severe bombing during the civil war. Although his original woodcuts and masonite engravings were saved, 25,000 of his prints were lost. After an acute period of devastation, he finally returned to his former social role and became the patriarch of Palestinian liberation of artists in Damascus, as they recognized his historic importance. There, Palestinian artists often exhibited together and acknowledged and received official Syrian recognition for their work. He remained in Damascus until his death in 2002.

The details within Hallaj's artworks serve as reminders and reflections of Palestinian history and struggles. In this artwork titled Palestine, Al Hallaj communicates a deep and painful reality; the historic moment of the 1948 Palestinian exodus also known as the Nakba in Arabic. The occupation of Palestine led to the displacement of 100s of thousands of children and the war left many casualties. Hopelessness, grief and despair are apparent in the body language of the little children seen in this work.

Many religious sites in the Holy Land of Jerusalem have long been pilgrimage destinations for Jews, Muslims and Christians. The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount are seen on the right-hand side of the composition as an emblem of not only Islam but of all the Abrahamic faiths. The sunrise behind the cross symbolises the awakening of a new day, the notion of illumination, hope and resurrection.

The eagle of Saladin is carved on the large central cross. The eagle began as the symbol of Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and was subsequently adopted by several Arab states including Palestine in symbolising Arab nationalism. The emblem used by the Palestinian National Authority as well as the State of Palestine features the pan-Arab colors of the Palestinian flag on a shield carried by the Eagle of Saladin. Below it flies a scroll with the Arabic text "فلسطين‏", "Palestine"

In this print, the images of children, animals, and objects are flattened, their contours simplified, and their details removed. Throughout Al Hallaj's work, the background shapes between images, which establish negative space are just as carefully crafted as the foreground ones that create positive space. In this, the influences of ancient Egyptian bas-relief and of Arabic calligraphy are clearly apparent given, that both possess this attribute.

As an artist, writer and journalist Mustafa was active and outgoing. His fellowship with poets, writers, and journalists was equal to that with artists. He exhibited internationally and received global recognition. Al-Hallaj won several local and international awards and prizes. He organized numerous art shows, talks, and festivals and If he was not organizing one he was supporting and contributing in any way he could.

'Our friends when they die are buried in us . . . Their bodies go to the graveyard but their personalities stay with us. We Palestinian artists are an orchestra. We are one choir... We have many friends and many died. We are a walking graveyard of these personalities who left.' – Mustafa Al-Hallaj